Ukraine war latest: Russian strikes kill 12 as Kyiv unveils new ‘rocket-drone’

The meeting with Mr Zelensky was brokered and attended by French president Emmanuel Macron, who played a key role in the service at the cathedral amid turmoil in French politics.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is confident he will be able to agree with US President-elect Donald Trump on a joint strategy for Ukraine after speaking to him on the phone.

“I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine. My guiding principle remains that nothing can be decided without giving the Ukrainian people a say,” he told the Funke group of newspapers in an interview.

He added he had spoken with the future US president “in detail” and that his team was in a direct exchange with Trump’s security advisers.

Ukraine is shaping up as a major issue in campaigning for Germany’s snap election in February, which follows the collapse last month of Scholz’s three-party governing coalition in Berlin.

Friedrich Merz, the conservative opposition leader who is on course to unseat Scholz, has said Germany should send Taurus cruise missiles. Scholz has opposed such a move, saying it could escalate the war.

Scholz on Monday announced new military aid for Ukraine during a rare visit to Kyiv that he said sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Berlin would stand by Kyiv for as long as needed in the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening.

“I expressed Ukraine’s full support and solidarity with the Georgian people, who are fighting for their dignified future, and emphasised that respecting the will of the Georgian people and preventing Ivanishvili’s government from surrendering the country to (Russian president Vladimir) Putin is essential for the stability and future of the region,” Mr Zelensky posted on X.

“Thank you, President Zelensky, for your steadfast and unwavering support for the Georgian people. Our nations’ fight for independence, freedom, and a European future will prevail – there is no alternative,” Ms Zourabichvili posted.

Russia has captured the village of Beretsky in Donetsk Oblast, the Russian defence ministry announced on Sunday, according to The Kyiv Independent.

Beretsky, located about 40km west of Donetsk, lies near Kurakhove, an area that has faced heavy Russian assaults in recent months as part of efforts to gain ground in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has not commented on Russia’s claims yet.

The US will provide $988m more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine, defence secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.

“The baton will soon be passed,” Austin said. “Others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years.”

The latest package will include more drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.

This package is in addition to the $725m military assistance that the US announced on Monday.

Denmark has delivered a second batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday as he traveled to Paris to meet with top politicians and dignitaries.

In a message on Telegram, Zelenskyy praised Denmark and lamented a lack of dedication from other allies.

“The first batch of planes provided by the Danes are already shooting down Russian missiles: rescuing our people and our infrastructure. Now our air shield is reinforced even further,” he said. “If all partners were so determined, we would have been able to make Russian terror impossible.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has described his first in-person talks with US-president elect Donald Trump since November’s US election as “productive” as the pair discussed ending the war as soon as possible.

Mr Trump arrived in Paris for a ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral, destroyed by a fire in 2019, in a return to the world stage at a time leaders are jostling for his attention.

The meeting with Mr Zelensky was brokered and attended by French president Emmanuel Macron, who played a key role in the service at the cathedral amid turmoil in French politics.

Mr Trump has previously pledged to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours of his 20 January inauguration, although his officials have floated the idea of forcing Kyiv to cede territory to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to achieve that aim.

On the 35-minute three-way meeting on Saturday night, Mr Zelensky described it as “good and productive”, adding: “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way. We spoke about our people, the situation on the ground, and a just peace.”

A leading Estonian defence firm has said it will start testing anti-drone missiles in Ukraine in 2025.

The tests intend to check the system’s effectiveness in real combat conditions, Frankenburg Technologies said.

Recognised as Europe’s top technology startup, Frankenburg Technologies has developed missiles to intercept Iranian Shahed dronesat altitudes of two kilometres using artificial intelligence for autonomous targeting.

“The technology is promising, and we will start testing it in Ukraine in the new year,” the company’s CEO Kusti Salm told Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR.

Production will start increase from a few dozen units per week to hundreds by the third quarter of 2025.